Controlling device for charging-hoppers



R. LEUIVIANN.

CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR CHARGING HOPPERS.

APPLICATION FILED .IULYI Patented Feb. 17,1920.

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A IIIIIIIY'IIIIIWII fave/2507.-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' RICHARD LEU'MNN, '0FD GH,*AIl'aLY--S'UR-ILIAUSAlVlWJI,1 SWITZERLAND.

CONTROLLING DEVICE FORy CHARGING-HOPPERS.

'TooZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, RIGHARDLEUMANN, a

citizen-of the VRepublic of Switzerland, re-

siding at villa FLalLoeX, Chailly-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland, have invented ycertain lnew-and useful -Im rovements in Control- 'ling Devices for. -lharging-Hoppers; and

I do hereby-'declare the following to `be a clear, yfull, :and/exact description .of the inventiomsuchas lwill enable others skilled in the art to which it apper'tains to make and use the same, reference being yhad to the accompanying drawing, and to letters or iigures ofreference markedthereon, which lform a fpart of this specification.

The invention consists also in the particu'lar construction,- arrrangements .and combination of fparts of the controllingdevice as will be hereinafter -fully-'set orth and pointed outin the claims, reference being,

had Yto the accompanying` drawing ishowing by way of exampleseveral embodiments or' the invention. In this drawing: v Figurel is avertical cross-section through a first embodiment;

Fig. 2 is -a corresponding section through a second embodiment Fig. 3vfis a-sectioneon the line III-"III of Fig. 2,- and lF ig. 4 showsa modification of adetail.

Reerringat rst to Fig. 1, 1 denotes av stationary charging` hopper having the shape .ofY a iu-nnel and providednwith a cover 2. -flfhe'latter .has aV sleevelike pory tion Aaand it carries a bracket l forming a bearing for a shaft 5 adapted to be moved in -its-aX-ial direction. l `Theshaft 5 carries a worm 6.` Thehelicalsurface of the worm 6-ha`s achan'ging pitch,ltheupper spirals Y' yhaving axgreaterpitchrthan theflower spiy Arals.

8 `designates a crank comprising a ring 7V surrounding .the .shaft 5` and arvranged between the-cover 2 and a .portion vci' the bracket 4f. A` key 9V fixed to the ring 7 -is-adapted to engage a groove r1() of the shaft 5.r The kcrank f8 is pivotally connected to a rod 11 connected in its turn to an arm Specification of-L'ettersflatcnt. Patented Feb, 17, '1.920

Application -led July 1, 1919.

Serial No. 308,044..v

of a double armed lever v111. The other arm of this -lever 111 carries a roller 112 running in a cam groove of a disk 113 fixed to a drivingshaft 114.

The shaft .5 is operatively connected to an adgusting mechanism admitting an 'axial ad]ustment. of this shaft 5. In all the constructions'shown this mechanism can be actuated for instance by hand, and to this'end the `upper end of theshaft 5 carries a collar 5a provided with a circular groove. Into this groove engagetwo lpins'12 (only one is shown in the drawing) of the fork-shaped end 13 of a lever'14 pivotally mounted on a stationary pivot 15. 16- designates an adjusting rod operatively connected at its up per end to the vlever 14 and provided' at its lower end with a screw threaded portion 17 passing through a nut 19 which is formed integral with a hand-wheel '20 and which is "kept in a determinate 'position'by two extensions 18 of a. 'stationary bracket 181.

To the charging funnel 1 is liXed a cylindrical member 21 closely 'surrounding 'the lower portion of the worm 6 'andwprovided with an outlet-opening 22. The vheight of this member 21 exceeds that of the thread oi? the worm 6 Vhaving the 'greatest "pitch so that more than `a whole thread of greatest pitch will 'always be surrounded "by the member 21.

The operation of a controlling device as hereinbefore described is as follows:

' The quantity'A of material passing in a unit or' vtimethrough the outlet opening 22A of member 21 can be controlled byi'means of the hand-wheelv 20 bringing about upon its turning h vertical movement .of the rod' 16 and consequently' an'axial movement of the worm shaft 5. The said quantity depends, when it is as'sume'dthat the .level of' the material within Vthe Ihopper 1 remains always the sameon the speedof the invaterialsliding down thatthreadV of' the worm 6 which is situated Vimmediately abovel the Aoutlet .opening-'22 and which is surrounded by the cylindricalportion`21. "The speed f the material moving A down said wormthread Vdepends solely on the angleof inclination of this thread, as `it is 'evident thatthe speed oi1 a body sliding down an inclined plane increases owing toits weight until the `resistance due to .the friction which resistance increasesV with theincrease ofsaidspeed) is equal to the componenti o-'gravity that is on the preceding threads of the worm 6, but

solely on the angle of inclina-tion of the worm at this point. The angle Vof inclinavtion of the thread of the worm 6 situated immediately above the discharge opening 22 can now be changed in a device of the described construction byl vertically adjusting the shaft 5, so thatthe speed and consequently the quantity of material discharged through the opening 22 into a receptacle 221 can also be adjusted at will.

The rotary and shaking movement im- A parted to the worm 6 about its own axis by means of the crank 8 has the effect, when the goods moving down the worm are powdery, to shake said goods, thus preventing any temporary clogging.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 2, the cylindrical member 21 forming the lower Vpart of the charging hopper 1 consists of several sections. As shownin Fig. 3 it comprises four sections 45 of equal size. Each of these sections is pivotally connected at 46 to the lower end of the hopper 1 and each of them is acted upon by a counterweight 47. These weights y47 press the sections 45 against one another. The worm 6 is double threaded. The upper portion of the shaft 5 is provided with a groove 23 into which engages a key driven into the hub of a driving wheel 24 prevented from moving in the axial direction of the shaft 5, while the latter can be displaced axially relatively to said wheel 24. On the shaft 5 is also mounted a collar 25 rotatably mounted on balls in a recess of a sleeve 26. The latter is provided with a removable plate 27 and with an external screw-thread 28. This thread 28 engages with an internal thread of a sleeve 29 slidably mounted in the hub-like portion 30 of the cover 2 of the charging hopper 1. The sleeve 29 is provided with a flange 31 against which abuts a compression spring 32 abutting on its other end against the cover 2. The sleeve 29 is further provided with a hand wheel 33 formed integral therewith and with an annular recess 34 into which project the pins 35 of a'fork-shaped end'of a two-armed lever 36, 37. The latter is pivotally mounted at 38 and it abuts on its other end against a rotary cam disk 39 fixed to a drivfing shaft 391. vThe latter actuates by means Iof a bevel gearing 394 a shaft 392 carrying a' chain wheel v393 over which passes a chainv coperating also with the chain wheel 24.

The controlling device illustrated in Fig. 2 works as follows:

In order to adjust the spiral of the worm 6 Von which depends the quantity of goods discharged, in the required manner within the lower portion 21, the sleeve 26 is turned by means of the hand wheel 33 in one or the other direction, the shaft 5 being then rotated. Upon a rotation of the cam disk 39, an axial shaking movement is imparted to the sleeve 29 and consequently also to the shaft 5, said movementpreventing a clogging of the passages conined by the spirals of the worm' 6. The pivotally mounted sections V45 prevent a stoppage ofthe worm 6 when any grains are jammed between the latter and one of the sections 45. The driving wheel 24 imparts `moreover to the shaft 5 an uninterrupted rot-ary movement.

Tn the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 4 and showing only the lower part of the controlling device, 42 designates an adjusting screw mounted in stationary bearings 40, 41 of the charging hopper 1. The screw 42 coperates with an annular nut 43 acting as a carrier for a cylindrical tube-like member 44 consisting of several. sections and adapted Vto'be pushed over the lower tube-like portion 21 of the hopper 1. The sections of the member 44 are pivotally connected at 48 to the ring 4 3. 49 denotes a sleeve formed integral with the ring 43 and acting as a guide for this ring, it beingadapted to slide along a bolt 50 fixed to the hopper 1. The shaft 5 carrying the worml 6 cannot be adjusted axially and the quantity of goods flowing through the member 44 can be regulated by axially adjusting this member 44, the latter being adapted'to be moved by means of the screw 42 from the position shown, which corresponds to a certain delivery-quantity of goods, to a certain amount upward. Tn consequence of this adjustment of the member 44, the lower spiral thine?- of the worin 6 having a smaller angleof inclination lie outside the member 44 so that they become inoperative. Thus, the discharging speed of the goods through the orf'` let opening of the member can'be gradually increased by causing spiral threads having a greater angle of inclination to become operative.

l/Vhat I claim now as my invention is:

1. A controlling device of the character described, comprising a charging hopper provided at its lower end with an outlet opening, a worm havinglthreads of changing pitch and having its bearing` in said hopper, said worm being partly surrounded by the lower cylindrical part of said hopper, and means for changing the position of the worm relatively to said cylindrical part of the hopper.

2. A controlling device for charging heil:- pers, comprising a funnel-shaped member, a worm having threads or" changing pitch and having its bearing in said member, a cylindrical member forming the lower continuation of said rst mentioned member and provided with an outlet opening, said cylindrical member closely surrounding at least one thread or' the worm, and means for changing the position of the worm relatively to said cylindrical member.

3. A controlling device for charging hoppers, comprising a funnel-shaped member, a worm having threads of changing pitch and having its bearing in said member, a cylindrical member forming the lower continuation of said first mentioned member and provided with an outlet opening, said cylindrical member closely surrounding at least one thread of the worm, and means for axially adjusting the worm in order to effect a change of its position relatively to said cylindrical member.

4. A controlling device for charging hoppers, comprising a funnel-shaped hopper, a worm having threads of changing pitch and having its bearing in said hopper, members pivotally connected to the lower end of said funnel-shaped hopper, counterweights acting upon said pivotally mounted members and causing them to assume a vertical position so that said members conine a cylindri cal channel and closely surround at least one thread of the worm, and means for axially adjusting the worm for the purp;i of changing its position relatively to said pivotally mounted members.

5. A controlling device for charging hoppers, comprising a funnel-shaped member, a Worm having threads of changing pitch and having its bearing in said member, a cylin: drical member forming the low-er continuation of said first mentioned member and provided With an outlet opening, said cylindrical member closely surrounding at least one thread of the worm, means for changing the position of the worm relatively to said cylindrical member and means for imparting to said worm a shaking movement.

6. A controlling device for charging hop pers, comprising a funnel-shaped member, a worm having threads of changing pitch having its bearing in said member, a cylindrical member forming the lower continuation of said rst mentioned member and provided vvith an outlet opening, said cylindrical member closely surrounding at least one thread of the worm, means for changing the position of the worm relatively to said cylindrical member, and means for imparting to the Worm a rotary and shaking movement.

'7. A controlling device for charging hoppers, comprising a unnel-shaped member, a worm having threads of changing pitch and having its bearing in said member, a cylindrical member forming the lower continuation of said rst mentioned member and provided with an outlet opening, said cylindrical member closely surrounding at least one thread of the worm, means for changing the position of the worm relatively to said cyl iudrical member, means for imparting a shaking movement to the worm in its axial direction and means for imparting to the worm a rotary and shaking movement about its own axis.

8. A controlling device of the character described, comprising a charging hopper provided at its lower end with an outlet opening, a multiple thread worm having threads of changing pitch and having its bearing in said hopper, said worm being partly surrounded by the lower cylindrical part of said hopper, and means for changing the position of the Worm relatively to said cylindrical part of the hopper.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name.

RICHARD LEUMANN. Witnesses:

EUGENE DAvIs, EMILE GIDDEY. 

